Lovers say hello and, all too often, goodbye. Villains say goodbye and, all too often, hello. The music of Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, and others enriches the meaning of these greetings with unforgettable melodies and soaring voices.

Shadan Saul and Sunny Shams are joined by Andrew Greenwood, Charlotte Beglinger, and pianist David Boothroyd. Tom Durrie is host and narrator. City Opera partners with Il Centro to bring you this musical delight. Please join us at The Italian Cultural Centre, 3075 Slocan at S Grandview. Ample free parking.

Already in 2017...

HomeGround Festival concert at Oppenheimer Park.

On 10 February we gave another concert at DTES Oppenheimer Park HomeGround Festival. Featuring soprano Michelle Koebke and pianist Roger Parton, we attracted 100 people who braved the weather for the sake of the music.

Missing workshop at the Carnegie Centre.

In mid-February, we held a four-day workshop in Victoria for our new opera Missing. In Vancouver on 28 February at the Native Education Centre, and again the next day at the DTES Carnegie Centre, we did the same.

In the Spring 2017 issue of Opera Canada, reviewer Robert Jordan praised our comedy Lost Operas of Mozart. He described it as “a clever framing concept”, and “a script that ingeniously provided a connecting thread” among its components. Bramwell Tovey was singled out as leading “with aplomb and superb comic timing” in his role as Impresario. Every singer, and the orchestra, was similarly honored, and the entire show described as “brightly original and well-executed.”

In the February 2017 issue of Opera News, published by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, our commission Fallujah got a rave. Produced at New York City Opera, our anti-war piece was described as “intense and moving” and “demonstrates how a well-integrated work of art can step in when conversation fails”. With music by Canadian Tobin Stokes, and libretto by Iraqi-American Heather Raffo, “the most heartrending moment is the dual lament of the [Iraqi and American] mothers, whose tormented longing cuts to the heart of the whole raw messiness and futility of war.”

The Canada Council / New Chapter programme has awarded a major grant to the Vancouver-Victoria co-production of Missing. We are deeply grateful.

The City of Vancouver has made a grant to support the free presentation, for DTES families only, of Missing. It is co-presented with Vancouver Moving Theatre and the DTES Heart of the City Festival. Again, we are very grateful.

Coming up in 2017...

At 4pm on Sunday 2 April, City Opera appears again at Famee Furlane, on East Pender at Nanaimo. With soprano Michelle Koebke, and pianist Roger Parton.

Pre-production work continues throughout the spring and summer for Missing.

On October 2, we begin company rehearsals for Missing, premiering at The York on Friday 3 November, at 8pm. Tickets through The Cultch.

Coming in November 2018: The Nigredo Hotel

City Opera produces the Vancouver premiere of the legendary, macabre, and unforgettable operatic thriller Nigredo Hotel. Written by Nic Gotham and Ann-Marie MacDonald, it is the story of an encounter between a beautiful but crazed woman who runs a shoddy hotel, and a brain surgeon forced to take refuge there after crashing his car. You can’t imagine what happens next.

Can you help? Would you like to help produce Missing?

It is a powerful and essential story, perhaps the most important work we have ever done. Its Vancouver production budget is $325,000. Ticket sales will cover about one-third of the actual cost of the show.

We rely on friends to make up the difference, and to keep prices low for those who could not otherwise afford to attend. If you can help: